Main
Sunny Shao
Education
PhD. Candidate, Political Science (computational track)
University of California
Riverside, CA
current - 2016
- [Dissertation] Natural Language Processing of WeChat Data , Mass Behavior & Social Network Analysis
M.S., Public Policy (Econometrics)
Pepperdine University
Malibu, CA
2015 - 2013
Selected Experience
Associate Researcher
Center for Social Innovation (UCR)
Riverside, CA
current - 2018
- missioned to lead projects that uplift the community of color offering executable data-driven action plans
- work with a diverse background of scholars and R users to produce deliverables such as reports and data dashboards
- In-depth knowledge about many open source R packages and their application in both academic and industry settings
Lead Researcher
AAPI Data
Riverside, CA
current - 2017
- Experienced in coordinating and working with both internal and external stakeholders in a team with many moving factors
- Deep knowledge in designing, executing and managing end-to-end data science projects
- 4+ years of experience in high-pace social science research team with frequent ad-hoc requests and challenges
Summer Fellow (Survey Data Operation)
Education Pioneer
Los Angeles, CA
2016
- Worked closely with coordinators, principals and teachers on program evaluations
- Created stratified weighted sampling surveys to evaluate programs of Camino Nuevo charter school network
- Designed protocols and methodology for future program evaluations
Data Analyst Intern
SmartAnalyst
Gurgaon, India
2012
- Interviewed thoracic oncologists in Japan and China for pharmaceutical clients, who are on phase II trials of non-small cell lung cancer drugs
- Translated three-way phone meetings between client, SmartAnalyst and Chinese thoracic oncologists
- Crowdsourced a list of thoracic oncologists through medical journals
Selected Projects
Asian American Voter Survey (Experimental Design & Name-match algorithms)
AAPI Data, APIAVote & AAAJC
N/A
2020 - 2018
Experiment on Inland Empire Census 2020 Outreach Messages by Census Tracts
Center for Social Innovation, UC Riverside
Riverside, CA
2020
National Asian American Survey
AAPI Data
N/A
2018
Selected Reports
Reaching Low-Propensity Voters in California’s November 2020 Elections: Recommendations from focus group research and community partner engagement
California Common Cause
N/A
2020
Untapped Power: The Strength of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Working People
Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance
N/A
2019
Selected Grants
Coulter Foundation Research Scholarship
Counter Foundation
Riverside, CA
current - 2017
rstudio::conf 2020 Diversity Scholarship
Rstudio
San Francisco, CA
2020
UCR Dean’s Distinguished Fellowship
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA
2017 - 2016
Selected Press
Would Prop. 16’s affirmative action ensure equality in California
Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles, CA
2020
Invited Talk
2020 Census and Beyond: New Tool for AAPI Census Efforts
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy
Virtual
2019
Key Patterns and Trends Among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders: Chinese American Demographics & Political Engagement
National Conference of State Legislators
Los Angeles, CA
2018
Resources for Engaging in the Debate Over Data Disaggregation
Association of Asian American Studies
San Francisco, CA
2018